long story short

by TheBrightestNight

Long story short, Victoria Williams broke her swear on the Styx. Long story short, she must now deal with the consequences. She just never thought the goddess would dredge up the mistakes of her past, like throwing scars into relief, with everything culminating into a decision she never wanted to make and someone she never wanted to become. long story short, it was a bad time.

11. Interlude

I'm taking a lot of liberties with the story lol. I think I may have mentioned in my last note about going completely off the rails with this one, boys. Well, it's continue to be that way!

CONTENT WARNING: sexual assault (forced kiss, to be specific, nothing more), panic attack, emotional break down. These will be at the very end of the chapter, during Week 6.

---

Interlude

—

snow falling and night falling fast, oh, fast / in a field i looked into going past

—

Early November

They sat me down in an uncomfortable metal chair (which would only aggravate my chronic pain. Yay me.) and then removed the black bag from off my head. I squinted and blinked as my eyes adjusted to the fluorescent light. From somewhere to my left, I heard muffled voices. The walls were thin enough if I paid attention, I could probably make out what they were saying, but I was still gathering my bearings.

I looked around the room. It reminded me very much of an interrogation room, sans the one-way mirror. It was small, dingey, and was illuminated by a fluorescent that bathed the room in a sickening green color. That or reflected the ugly green wallpaper onto every other surface. Either way, it hurt my eyes and made me dizzy. My prickles responded in kind, of course.

That's not to mention, I'd been ambushed. Minding my own business, making my way back to my apartment, when someone comes up to me, presses the barrel of a gun to my side, and tells me to get into the SUV that's just pulled up to the curb. As soon as I was in the backseat, the person already sitting inside threw a black fabric bag over my head, while the gun stayed pressed to my side.

This didn't have the stink of Triumvirate, so I wasn't sure who these people were. They hadn't taken my weapons though, which was odd. Especially considering they hadn't bound my hands, either. They'd stationed two guards with me, but I could easily take them out with my throwing knives.

Then again, maybe it was some kind of trap. If this was too easy, there had to be something trickier up their sleeve. I didn't know if I could risk trying to escape if that was the case. I didn't even know where I was or how to get out, so being recaptured would be likely.

Instead, I tuned into the voices. Maybe they would be able to tell me something.

"I don't know…" Their voice trailed off. I could tell they were saying something more, but it was too low for me to hear.

"Trust me on this," the other person replied, sounding strangely familiar. Some sort of panic shot through me; my prickles burst. "We can trust her."

"You've only known her for, what? A few weeks now?" the first person exclaimed.

"They're holding her brother hostage," the second person said. "She obviously doesn't want to work for them."

I turned instinctively toward the sound of the voices—how did she know about my situation? I saw a door, but the guard on my left shifted, holding out arm as if to block me, pulling my attention to her.

"Don't move," she gruffly.

I looked up at her confused. She'd left herself so open. I could've easily taken her out, then thrown another dagger at the guard to my right.

The voices picked up again, pulling my attention away from that: "We can't risk your cover," the first person said.

"She's more than just someone we can recruit," the second person finally said. "She could be a valuable asset."

"Why? Because her boyfriend was seduced by Kronos? You saw how quickly the gods took care of her rebelliousness."

I tensed, wanting to spring out of my chair, run to the door, and throw it open. My pin-pricks burst like a firecracker at the mention of Luke.

How did they know so much about me? About that specific part of my life? I was forbidden from telling anyone about my punishment after the Second Titan War. Of course, my siblings had known, because I lived with them and it seemed too difficult a secret to keep. But they had also been forbidden to share that knowledge with anyone else.

The guard, still holding her arm out, shifted to block my view entirely.

"Not just that." They paused. "She's met Emperor Nero."

The door opened then. The guard moved away to reveal, to my shock, Huixing. She was followed by an older woman, maybe mid-to-later thirties? She had brown skin, a touch darker than mine, and long black hair, pulled back into a braid. She wore black jeans, a blue blouse, a black leather jacket, and black leather boots.

Huixing closed the door behind them. I looked to her in confusion, for answers, but she stayed quiet, her eyes darting to the other woman, who eyed me apprehensively.

"Victoria Williams," she said. At first, I thought she was asking me if that's who I was. But I realized she said it like she was testing how my name sounded. I waited, tense. My pin-pricks steadily growing. I hated it when I was ambushed like that. I did have a bottle of pain meds; I wondered if they'd offer me any water. Or if I could ask for some.

"I'm Nicole Singh," the older woman said. "Why don't we have a chat."

---

Week 1

Present

"You know, maybe I wouldn't treat you like petulant children if you didn't act like one," Nic said, as she stood in front of us—me, Ellery, and Huixing—a table between us. We were sitting down, making it feel all the more like we were being scolded by a parent.

I frowned but bit my tongue on a response that would only further the analogy.

"You should've come to me first before infiltrating a hospital, posing as a doctor," she hissed. "All three of you are too close to everything to be pulling stunts like that. This is why we have other, lower-level people that we have worked very hard to put in just the right positions within Triumvirate. And you go waltzing in like you own the place! Jeopardizing all our hard work!" Nic turned to glare at me, her voice softened, "And your loved ones. You are in the most precarious position of us all"—her voice got hard again—"yet you continue to make stupid, half-thought-through plans. What were you three thinking?"

"I thought we might be on a time-crunch and they were just doing reconnaissance," I tried to defend.

Nic simply looked at me like I was stupid, her arms crossed over her chest, and I suddenly felt embarrassed; like I'd said the wrong thing. (My pin-pricks didn't like that.)

It had been rash. She was right, in that any other things I'd done for the resistance, had been carefully planned and constructed so I could have plausible deniability when it came to reporting back to Hargrave.

"I…I don't know what I was thinking," I admitted. "I guess I got sentimental, I don't know. He's…well, he's my brother." As strange as that was to say.

Nic uncrossed her arms and sighed. She finally took a seat. "The intel you got was helpful. I have a team already strategizing a plan to rescue him."

"That's great!" Huixing exclaimed, sitting forward. "Then we—"

"—will have rock-solid alibis for the time he's rescued." Nic interrupted. "If I could, I'd send all three of you half-way across the world."

Huixing sat back with a huff.

Nic turned back to me. "You cannot risk our operation, or Dan and Anya's lives. This is the most dangerous thing we've done so far. If any of you were caught, this organization would be dead in the water, and we have worked too hard and come too far to risk that."

"Then why risk saving him at all?" Ellery asked. It wasn't judgmental, more clinical, logical.

Nic grimaced. "Trust me, it wasn't an easy decision, but the benefit of saving Asclepius outweighs the risks. I don't know how much damage it will do to Triumvirate on the whole, but it takes away something; they're obviously using him for something important. If we can take him out of their equation, that might give us an advantage. It's about tipping the scales, not one big blow that will take them out."

"Do you really think he'll offer us his undying servitude for saving him?" Ellery asked bluntly. "He's a god, he can do as he likes."

"He is a god, so how did the emperors capture him?" Nic responded. "We're not doing this to make him help us. We're doing this to try and slow down Triumvirate. Apollo appearing as mortal has kickstarted their plans; we're running out of time. Any blow we can make to weaken them is crucial now."

Nic waited to see if we were going to say anything else. When we were silent, she nodded. "Good. Now, as to where you three will be when we execute our rescue operation…"

---

Week 2

I watched as a silver car with tinted windows pulled up to the curb outside the café.

I took a deep breath. "Show time," I muttered before standing and paying for my drink. Despite always regretting (usually) not taking a bottle of pain meds with me when I went out, I didn't have one on me now. I had a strong feeling the people in the silver car were likely to take it off me. I'd taken some pain meds, and an elixir, in anticipation, of course, but it was always a gamble with my prickles.

I tried to act natural as I exited the café, pretending to head back to my apartment. One of the men from the silver car came up to me, pressing close to conceal the fact that he was holding a gun to my side.

"Come with me," he murmured, putting his free arm around my waist, shepherding me toward the silver car. I went quietly. One of the other men from the car had opened up the back door. I slid inside, being sandwiched between two people yet again. This time, however, was because of my own doing, and not because Hargrave had ambushed me.

"Our boss wants to speak with you," the driver said as the man on my right threw a black, cloth bag over my head. I felt the barrel of a gun press into my side again. I tried not to sigh, or get carsick, as the driver peeled out from the curb. Though, I could already tell today was a day where my prickles didn't like listening to pain medicine.

---

They searched me and took my throwing knives, then led me into a room and sat me down somewhere, before finally removing the cloth bag from my head. I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light, which was relatively dim. The room was large and open—it looked like we were in one of the abandoned warehouses on the outskirts of town, as cliché as it sounded.

Dim lights in rusted fixtures hung above us. (At least they weren't fluorescents; my pin-pricks were already very unhappy.) In front of me was a large metal table. Behind me, I could hear shifting of feet, so there were people behind me. I didn't turn to look, though. On the other side of the table were more men, standing on guard. Sitting directly across from me at the table was their boss: Marietta Selvaggi. She was the head of one of the bigger Italian mafias in New York.

Marietta was pale with dark, heavy hair that fell across her shoulders in waves. She was wearing a tank top underneath a leather jacket. My case of throwing knives was laid out in front of her. She was currently playing with one—holding it between her first fingers, the point of the blade pressed into the pad of one finger, the end of the blade pressed against the pad of her other finger.

"This is new," she said, not looking away from the knives. She squinted at it knife. "Painted bronze?"

I tried not to smile. She had no idea.

Finally, her almond-colored eyes went to me. "Custom made?"

I nodded.

Her red-painted lips quirked up in the corner. "Any good?"

"The best," I responded.

Her smile grew bigger. She unsheathed another dagger before sliding both across the table to me. I easily stopped them with one hand before taking one into each. The goons behind her shifted uncomfortably, not wanting to speak out against their boss, but uneasy at the prospect of giving me weapons.

I twirled them in my hands, just to show off a little, before throwing them at the guy nearest her, in a navy-blue suit. He flinched but when he realized they hadn't hit him, he relaxed. Then scoffed at me.

"You missed." Navy-Blue chuckled. The others joined in.

I inclined my head. "Did I?" I asked.

The little laughs and jeering chuckles died down at this. I saw Marietta's eyebrows quirk up in interest again.

I snapped my fingers and Navy-Blue's shoulder holsters for his guns snapped and his guns went crashing to the ground at his feet. It felt like the room was holding its breath as Nave-Blue looked at his guns with wide eyes.

"What the shit!" he exclaimed, shedding his jacket to look at the holes my knives had left when they'd gone through. He turned, searching for them. I heard the people behind me shift and murmur uneasily.

I looked back at Marietta, who was looking at me, impressed, mixed with intrigue.

"I never miss," I told her.

"Are you for hire?" she asked.

"I'm afraid not."

"Shame." She paused. "You asked one of my lawyers to get some very expensive and dangerous information recently."

I swallowed hard, fighting the urge to ask if the lawyer was okay. "I did."

"To what end?"

I gestured around us. "A meeting with you, of course."

"There were surely less life-threatening ways to get my attention," she said, her eyebrow twitching. Behind me, I heard someone step toward me, and the unmistakable clicks of their gun as they readied it. I tried to keep my face expressionless, but my heart began beating harder in my chest and my prickles, as they always did, responded to this.

"I needed to get your attention quickly," I told her. Because, apparently, I had a habit of doing that.

"What's stopping me from killing you for using one of my lawyers?"

"Common interest," I said, despite how her words sent panic shooting through me. We'd know this would be dangerous, but actually being in this situation now was different. I was unarmed—at least with monsters, I was always armed—and alone. There was no backup waiting to rush in, no knight in shining armor to come save me. I had to make it through this on my own.

Marietta quirked an eyebrow. "And what common interest would that be?"

"You already know," I said. "I'm sure you've read everything your lawyer found."

Marietta pursed her lips and paused for a long moment. "I won't be joining whatever war you're planning to start."

"You'll just benefit from the aftermath," I added.

"Hey!" one of her men exclaimed, stepping toward me. She waved them off without taking her eyes off me. She smiled, amused.

"Hedging my bets," she responded. "I don't think you'll succeed. Triumvirate is too vast. Joining your fight would only decimate my men and resources. If you lose, I'll just make nice. If you win, well, I benefit greatly from that loss, yes." She shrugged. "Simple as that."

"Care to share your lawyer's spoils?" I asked. "Might give us a fighting chance, which would be better for you."

Marietta smiled but narrowed her eyes, letting out a chuckle. Then she waved her hand and the black cloth bag was thrown over my head again. I was roughly jerked from my chair and led out, back into a car.

I felt a jolt of panic go through me, followed by a wave of my chronic pain; they hadn't given me my weapons back. But it wasn't like there was anything I could do. They already had a gun back on me, and I was once again squished in the backseat between two people who could shoot me faster than I could remove the bag over my head.

The Hephaestus and Hecate kids who'd made the belt for my knives were going to be so peeved I'd lost it.

Worse still, we didn't get the information we'd been anticipating and hoping we'd get. Nor did it convince Marietta to join our resistance. The meeting had been a complete bust.

They dropped me back off at the café. As the driver pulled up to the curb, one of the men sitting next to me removed the bag from my head while the other shoved something into my hands. My eyes were still adjusting to the bright sun as they ushered me roughly out of the car. I was still squinting as I watched the car pull away from the curb and into traffic.

Sighing I looked down at what was in my hands and a rush of relief and surprise went through me. First thing I saw was my dagger belt, with no daggers missing. As I unfolded it to attach it back to my jacket, I realized there was an envelope inside. It looked a little like a legal envelope, but was half the size.

Had they given me the info after all? I'd have to take this to Nic right away.

---

My alibi for the day they were going to rescue Asclepius was my brother. I had told him as much, of course, despite Nic recommending I don't. I tried not to keep important things from him. I used to do that a lot, which wasn't fair to him. It was mostly because most of the things I would tell him involved my fucked-up demigod life, and he had left camp to try and get away from all that.

Now we felt it was pretty moot.

Dan, of course, being as busy as he was, couldn't take time off for the theater. So, I tagged along with him and Anya. None of his castmates minded. As I'd mentioned before, they'd welcomed me into their little family as if I was as present in their productions as anyone else. Not to mention, I was a bit infamous among them. At one of the theater's productions, a monster had managed to knock out one of the main cast members and take his place. I had stepped in and performed a whole show—so to speak—in front of a live audience, fighting and then killing the monster. It was a whole thing. The details are unimportant now.

They invited me to audition for other productions, but I was always busy doing demigod things. Regardless, I went to as many of Dan's productions as possible, and met all his friends often. Now that I had more freedom, I was able to hang out with them more often than usual, so they had become my friends, as well.

Anyway, I sat next to the student director, script in hand, suddenly filling the role of co-director for one day only. They were doing The Importance of Being Earnest. Dan, of course, was playing Earnest. Anya was playing Cecily.

To be honest, it was nice. Of course, there was the worry in the back of my head about how the mission was going (and that didn't help my prickles) but, like with many things, there was nothing I could do about it. Nic had been right, going on that mission would've been too risky for me; for Dan and Anya. I could only hope that it went according to plan.

It was nice to pretend for a little while. Pretend I was also a student getting a degree in theater; like I was just a normal college kid, and not a demigod spy.

It wasn't until late into the evening did I get a message on my bronze phone. After decoding it, it read: Mission Success. Then provided a time and date when I would meet back up with them to discuss everything. Then it erased itself from my phone.

That was the most frustrating part, I think. The fact that I couldn't immediately go talk to them about it. I had to keep up my alibi and wait it out. It would look to suspicious if I immediately dropped everything to see them, even if Hargrave didn't know who exactly I was seeing. I needed to space it out, make it clear I wasn't up to anything (even though I was).

---

Week 3

I was used to entering my apartment and finding strange men inside. Namely, Hargrave and whoever he decided to bring along—Germani, mercs, the occasional monster—for protection. This time was different, however, because the first thing I saw was Anya, sitting in the middle of my sofa next to a merc, who was holding a gun to her side. He had his other hand wrapped tightly around her shoulders. She was stiff, eyes wide and scared.

In one armchair (there were two; they faced the sofa with a coffee table between the piece of furniture) was Dan, with a merc standing behind him, the barrel of a gun resting at the base of his skull. In the other armchair, I recognized the back of Hargrave's head.

I paused, taking everything in, before slamming my door shut. No point in locking it. Hargrave stood and turned, smiling pleasantly, but soullessly at me as slowly I entered the living room.

"Welcome home, Victoria," he said. Was it just me or was there tension in his tone? I gave him a once over, my alarm bells going off. Something was really wrong.

Stay calm, the voice that sounded awfully like Luke's said in my head, as my heart began to pound and my prickles began to steadily increase.

I opened my mouth to say something but Hargrave gestured to the only empty seat left.

"Please, have a seat," he said.

I looked at Anya, and at the merc standing behind Dan. Not that I thought I could save both of them. Still moving carefully, afraid any sudden movements might startle the mercs and make them shoot my loved ones, I slipped past Hargrave, and went to sit on the only empty spot left, next to Anya. Except I perched on the edge, not feeling comfortable enough to fully sit back.

Hargrave sat down again as I looked at Dan. He was tense, gripping the arm rests, but they hadn't taken away his prosthetic this time. He tried to communicate something to me when our eyes met but I shook my head tightly, once, just as Hargrave began to speak again and my attention was pulled over to him. (Damn, I really wished I'd downed that elixir before I left. Hadn't thought I'd need it.)

"Did you hear your…brother, Asclepius, was rescued just the other day?" Hargrave asked.

I blinked, trying to feign surprise. "What? Asclepius? Like, the god?" My heart was trying to beat its way out of my chest. Questioning every decision I made. Was that an appropriate response from me? Too much? Too little? Was Hargrave believing it?

A tiny, unamused smile popped onto Hargrave's face. His eyes piercing. "You didn't know?"

"Why would I?" I asked. "You never tell me anything about things I should know. Why would I know about something you clearly were keeping a secret?"

Hargrave chuckled, looking at something on the arm of his chair. "Right. Well." His eyes went back to me as he folded his hands over his lap. "You know, I've noticed that things didn't start going wrong until you joined us." His eyebrows furrowed in mock confusion. "Why do you think that is?"

A jolt of panic shot through me, making my prickles burst. But Luke spoke, talking me down, He's baiting you.

I swallowed, to allow myself just the slightest bit more time to come up with a response. "Funny," I began, furrowing my own brows in mock confusion. "Because it seems like everything was going smoothly until Apollo showed up and started interfering. Yet, you didn't have me kill him while I was at camp. An oversight on the emperor's part, perhaps? Or are you saving him for something else?"

Hargrave's eyebrow twitched. He unfolded his hands and stood. I stood, too, tensing. My pin-pricks burst. Not that I could do anything, though. More so because it was instinct.

"Why don't we cut the pleasantries, Victoria," Hargrave said, his tone shifting to something darker. I felt like a trapped mouse with a cat looming over me. My chronic pain flared painfully.

I glanced over at Dan, who was still gripping the armrests. The merc behind him pressing the gun into the back of Dan's head, as a reminder and Dan let out a harsh breath.

His eyes flickered to me but then widened. "Tori—!"

I felt the cold blade of a knife slide into my right side. Pain shot through me, burning and ripping, igniting my prickles in a firestorm.

I sucked in a sharp breath, my body freezing, and woodenly looked down. Hargrave's hand was gripping the hilt. I looked back up at him, my mind going fuzzy. His face was set in stone as he held the blade in my side.

I felt my knees wobble and Hargrave stepped closer, putting his arm around my waist to keep me standing as he said, "Oh, no you don't."

"What…" I tried to get out but the pain was overwhelming. The shock of his sudden attack had scrambled my brain.

The worse thing about my chronic pain was the fact that I could also feel other pains, such as stab wounds, on top of all my veins feeling like they were on fire.

Hargrave removed the knife but then slowly pushed it back into a slightly different spot in my side. I swallowed the whimper that threatened to escape my throat. My arms hung limply at my sides. Why couldn't I move? Break way from Hargrave?

I thought I heard some kind of commotion—maybe Dan had yelled something? Or shifted too much in his chair? But my ears were ringing and all I could really focus on was the cold blade in my side. (Well, aside from the obvious pin-pricks.)

Hargrave shifted slightly, never moving the blade, so that I was now leaning into him, and so he could speak into my ear. His voice was low, cold but smooth. "I know you had something to do with Asclepius's escape. You, Haley, and Ellery. I just can't prove it, since you were at least smart enough to be somewhere else at the time he was rescued. The emperors seem non-fussed about losing a valuable asset and they don't think you're a problem, but I know the truth."

He paused to remove the knife and push it back into yet another slightly different spot in my side.

"Do you know who my godly parent is?" he asked. Like I could answer. I could barely stand. The only thing keeping me up was currently Hargrave's arm around my waist. "She's a minor goddess, barely known: Ultio, the goddess of punishment, attendant to Nemesis." He stabbed me again, in that painstaking slowness he had for the past three. "Since the emperors did not see fit to punish you for something I know you had a hand in, I thought I'd take the matter into my own hands.

"One for you, Haley, and Ellery." He stabbed me again. "And two for Daniel and Anya, to remind you what's on the line."

He released me, mercifully bringing his knife with him—it was a small, straight, double-edged dagger, no longer than 6 inches. Then my knees buckled. I hit the floor and sat down hard, using the table on my left for support, my right hand going to my side to stem the flow of blood that was soaking into my shirt. Though, it wasn't going to do me any good, considering how fast my heart was pounding, and how heavily I was breathing.

Hargrave sat back down in the armchair he'd previously occupied, pulling out a square of cloth and began cleaning his dagger of blood.

Dan growled but I shot him a look. He glared back at me and I shook my head. Then gestured toward Anya behind me with a glance. Dan's hands curled into fists, but he stayed seated.

I glowered at Hargrave, who had finished cleaning his dagger and was slipping back into his right shoulder holster. He had a matching pair, one dagger on each side, hidden beneath his suit jacket.

Hargrave folded his hands and looked down at me. "Try something like that again and I can be much harsher."

"Not very Roman of you," I rasped, despite everything. Especially my prickles, which were threatening to overwhelm me very shortly now.

Hargrave scoffed. "This is the twenty-first century, my dear. Roman ideals are outdated. Whatever they teach at that silly little camp in California is drivel to keep those snotty kids in line."

I let out a chuckled. "The emperors would not like you saying that."

Hargrave ignored my comment and stood, then, buttoning his suit jacket and glaring down at me, folding his hands. "Step out of line again and you will regret it, Victoria." He looked up at the mercs. "Let's go."

They immediately holstered their guns and followed Hargrave out.

Everything immediately following that is a little lost to me, as I let the pain finally overwhelm me, having held it at bay while Hargrave was there, not wanting to show him weakness. But it was a bit like holding back the natural waves of the ocean—you get a buildup of energy and once you release it, it all comes crashing down like a tsunami.

I vaguely remember Dan in my field of vision, but then it's black until my body is warmly buzzing from consuming too much food of the gods.

I blinked, trying to gather my bearings, as my chronic pain slowly came back.

I was sitting up on the sofa now. Anya was on my right. Dan was kneeling in front of me, looking up at me, his eyebrows mashed together with worry. I glanced down at my side and saw blood. Startled, for my mind was still a bit foggy, I immediately reached for my shirt, pulling it back. The skin was smooth underneath, and I rubbed my fingers against it, just to make sure.

No bumps that would indicate scarring at all.

But as my fingers brushed the area, I was violently thrown back to the moment I was stabbed. I stiffened and gasped. My pin-pricks reacted like they usually did.

"Tori!" Dan exclaimed, taking my other hand and squeezing it gently.

I looked to him, squeezing his hand back.

"You're okay now," he assured, lowering his voice, trying to squeeze the panic out of it. "Just try to breathe with me." He took a deep breath in and I nodded, trying to mimic him. He did this until I was breathing perfectly in sync with him.

The memory still flashed in my mind, but his warm hand in mine grounded me.

I glanced back at my side, frowning. "It…it healed so well."

Dan frowned as well. "He was very…" he paused, searching for the words. I could see the anger swirling in his eyes. "…careful," Dan finally managed to choke out. "He missed major organs and arteries. Like he knew."

Beside me, Anya let out a small gasp. "He can do that? Know that?"

"He's probably studied it for some unknown reason," I muttered. "He said he was the son of some minor goddess who doles out punishment."

"He mentioned Asclepius," Dan said. "What was that all about?"

I took a steadying breath before telling them about what Ellery, Huixing, and I had discovered while on that mission to release the Colossus, and how he was rescued.

"They captured him?" Dan asked, his face slack with shock. "How…is that even possible?"

I shook my head. "All I know is, they'd done it. We could never figure out what for, either." I shrugged.

"But he's safe now?" Dan asked.

I nodded, but I still wondered how they'd even done it. How they'd even captured him in the first place.

Dan opened his mouth to ask another question but Anya interrupted.

"That…seems like it was really risky, does it not?" she asked quietly.

"It was, but…I couldn't just leave him there. Not for the emperors to use. The more we can hurt their organization from the inside, the better chance we have at taking them down. Both in the mundane and magical world."

"Hargrave said if you did anything else…" Anya trailed off, her voice trembling.

I gave her a small, reassuring smile and took her hand in mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. "He was bluffing."

"How can you be sure?"

"He has a tell when he's lying," I explained. "He only brought you as a show, as harsh as that sounds. I know how real it must feel to you. And I'm sorry. I am. But he told me the emperors don't believe I'm any trouble to them. They would hurt you to punish me, and they haven't. They wouldn't let Hargrave do it, either. That's why he stabbed me. He brought you along to remind me what the stakes are, but if he can't prove to the emperors I'm a legitimate threat to them, he can't hurt either of you."

Anya shook her head. "But why would the emperors care? Why would Hargrave care about that? He could still hurt one of us."

I looked at Dan for a moment. "He could," I murmured. I turned my gaze back to Anya, but looked through her, my voice turning hard: "But he and the emperors know that if either of you were hurt or killed, there would be nothing stopping me from razing Triumvirate and sending the emperors to the deepest pits of Tartarus." I paused, focusing on her again. "Do you believe me when I say that?"

Anya's eyes were wide with something I couldn't quite pinpoint, but she nodded all the same.

---

Week 4

"We have a problem," Nic said as I entered the base. It was hidden underground, in old, abandoned buildings on the outskirts of New York City that were all connected by underground tunnels. With help from the Hephaestus and Hecate kids, they'd built rooms that government agencies would be envious of, and they were all connected by the original tunnels. As well as wards by Hecate kids and demigods or immortal adjacent sorcerers/sorceresses. Wards that camouflaged as well as alerted, alongside modern technology such as invisible laser sensors and cameras.

Like my phone, the technology used here was all crafted to dampen the way technology usually amplified our demigod scent. Obviously, having a large congregation of demigods in one place usually sent up a beacon as bright as a football stadium on a Friday night, but with careful work they were able to hide their headquarters.

My blood ran cold, my prickles responding negatively. "What do you mean? What happened on the mission?"

"We were able to rescue Asclepius," Nic began as we hurried through hallways and doors. I had no idea how she was speaking while walking so fast. I was a step behind, if only because I didn't know where she was taking me. "There were some close calls, and some injuries, but nothing too serious." She grimaced. I had a feeling she was holding information back but if it was because we seemed to be on some kind of time crunch or because she didn't want to tell me, I wasn't sure.

Nic continued, "Whatever spell or trance they put over him, though, we've been unable to break."

"What do you mean?" I asked as we weaved through hallways, coming upon the part of the base I knew to be the hospital. I would call it an infirmary, but it was big enough to be a small hospital, and accommodated separate rooms for those who needed to rest and recuperate due to more serious injuries.

"We don't know how the emperors got a hold of him, or how they put him in the coma-like state he's in now, and we can't break him out of it," Nic explained. "I have my best people on it—children of Hecate and sorceresses who were trained under Circe herself; children of Hypnos and Morpheus. But two weeks have gone by and we've still gotten nothing."

Nic slowed her pace as we came up to a room. The blinds over the window were closed so I couldn't see inside, but I assumed this was Asclepius's room.

"How do you wake a god?" Nic asked, her voice terse. She gripped the doorhandle and led me inside.

Inside was a scene similar to the one when I'd first found Asclepius, except this time there was no magic or Mist concealing him. The machines that would usually monitor heartrate and the like were dark and silent.

Asclepius laid on the hospital bed, unmoving, but breathing. I stepped closer to him, examining him, though I wasn't sure what I would find, if people who regularly dealt with magic and dreams couldn't find anything.

"Wait," I gasped, turning to look back at Nic, who stood in the doorway. "The emperors trapped him in this form?" I asked, realizing that, despite his unconscious(?) state, he had not reverted to his godly form. He remained in his mortal-appearing form.

Nic nodded. "Right. We haven't been able to figure that out, either."

I looked back at Asclepius, trying to make sense of everything I knew, which wasn't much. Something wasn't adding up. The fact that emperors were able to overpower him, when he should've had the same powers as any of the Olympians. The fact that he remained in his human form, and had not reverted to his godly-incinerate-mortals-who-look-at-him form. The fact that the emperors had somehow found a spell to put a god to sleep, so powerful he remained asleep.

It didn't make sense.

I stepped closer to his hospital bed. I don't know what compelled me to do it, but I began to reach for his hand. When our skin met, I was thrown into some kind of…vision. I think. I didn't think it was a flashback; it didn't feel like one. Maybe a dream?

I was standing on a busy street somewhere in Italy? Greece? I was too disoriented to fully comprehend the language they were speaking. People bustled past me as I looked around, trying to gather my bearings when I caught sight of Asclepius.

He was tall and stocky, with short, curly salt and pepper hair, warm brown eyes with crow's feet, and sported a well-trimmed beard. He wore a lab coat over a button-down and slacks, and had a stethoscope around his neck.

I guess some things never changed, even when you were dreaming.

When he spotted me, his eyes widened in recognition, though we had never met, and he turned to walk briskly in the other direction.

"Wait!" I called, going after him, but it was against the flow of the foot traffic. Was it just me or did they seem more aggressive toward me than him? Whatever it was, he was weaving through everyone at a much faster pace than I, and I soon lost sight of him.

Once I had, I stopped trying to fight the ever-growing tide of people. I looked around, trying to figure out how I was supposed to leave this dream when someone slammed into me so hard, I lost my balanced. Before I hit the ground, though, I was thrown back into the present; into my body.

I gasped and let go of Asclepius's hand, stumbling back and tripping. Nic caught me, frantically asking me what was wrong. I had to fight away my prickles before I could answer, before I could understand what she was asking, even.

"Are you okay? What did you see?" she asked, gripping me and helping me sit up straight.

"I—" I tried, staring at Asclepius's form in the bed. My heart was pounding and my prickles were working up a storm in response. I tried to get my breathing normal, first, and push away the rest of my pin-pricks, so I could think straight.

Nic let me take my time. She's let go of me, but sat next to me on the floor, patiently.

"Let me take him," I finally said, not taking my eyes off his bed.

"What?" Nic asked, guarded.

I looked over at her. "Let me take him to Clovis, at Camp Half-Blood. He's a child of Hypnos. I think he'll be able to help."

"So, you have an idea of what's wrong?" Nic asked, still suspicious. "Why couldn't the children of Hypnos and Morpheus here see what you saw? It would be safer if we kept him at the base."

"No idea. Just a hunch." I stood, then, offering me hand to her. "I don't know why they didn't see what I did, and I know we could easily use one of them. But you don't have a child of Hades."

---

"So, let's see if I have this right," Nico said slowly. "You're part of an underground network of demigods working against Triumvirate, while also working for Triumvirate?"

I nodded. "Yeah, pretty much."

"So, you're a spy," Nico said, smirking. The dim light in his cabin threw shadows across his face in an eerie way and I wondered if he'd done that on purpose. "Or the demigod equivalent."

I flushed. "I guess." I didn't feel like I was actually doing anything, on Triumvirate's side or the resistance's side. On the whole, I felt pretty useless.

"And now you need my help to…wake a sleeping god?" Nico's eyebrows raised in incredulity.

"Yep."

"So, then, why did you have to keep all that from me for so long?" Nico asked, a pout in his voice.

"It was safer," I explained. "The less you know, the more plausible deniability you had."

"We've been over how safe my life is," Nico retorted.

"Well, you said it: I'm a spy. That's different territory," I tried.

Nico barked a laugh but sobered up quickly. "You did it again, didn't you?" I gave him a quizzical look and he continued, sighing, "You're trying to do everything on your own."

I looked down. "I'm working with the resistance," I defended, but even I could hear how weakly I was arguing this point.

"But not your loved ones," Nico said softly.

"I don't want to lose anyone else."

"I know."

We let it hang there for a moment. I wasn't sure what else I could say. We'd had this conversation many times before, and it always ended the same: unstoppable force meets immovable object.

"Thank you for trusting me with this now," Nico finally said. I looked back up at him as he continued, "I'll do what I can to help."

---

I was able to get some of the nature spirits and the harpies to help me smuggle Asclepius and Nic in. She insisted on coming. She tried to convince me to bring Nico to the base, but I managed to convince her to let me bring Asclepius to camp. There was pros and cons to both plans, but I honestly thought camp was the better decision.

The harpies and nature spirits helped us carry Asclepius's body on an infirmary stretcher to the Hypnos cabin. Clovis, head counselor, and as you have probably already surmised a son of Hypnos, was currently being debriefed by Nico. He wasn't getting as many details as I'd given Nico; mainly that Triumvirate had captured Asclepius and he was going to help us wake him up.

Thankfully, Clovis wasn't really the type to ask questions. Like how did the emperors manage it? Why are you sneaking him in? Does Chiron know? Who is this older demigod you're bringing with you?

Everything was set up by the time Nic and I entered the cabin with Asclepius. The cabin had a fire place. On the mantle hung a branch dipped in the Lethe, that dropped Lethe water into a small bowl underneath it. In front of the fireplace, in a semicircle, rocking chairs had been set up. Clovis was already sitting in one, dozing off. Clovis's two siblings were sound asleep in their own bunks.

Nico was standing next to the other rocking chair.

I thanked the harpies and nature spirits as Nic and I carried Asclepius into the cabin. Heather smiled and nodded, quietly closing the door for us.

"Here, we need to set him into a chair," Nico said. I nodded. Together, we threw Asclepius's arms over our shoulders and carefully maneuvered him into a rocking chair next to Clovis, who startled awake and looked up at us with his big, brown calf eyes. He was a stocky boy, but his arms were bean poles, and his hair was short, blond, and fluffy.

As Nico and I took our seats—Nico next to Asclepius, me next to Nico—Nico glanced back at Nic, then to me.

"Will she…?" he asked.

"No," Nic answered. "I'm lookout. This plan seems dangerous, so I'm here to kick you awake if it comes to it."

Nico gave her a slightly pained smile. "Right." He looked at me, silently asking if she meant it literally. I grimaced.

"We'll make sure it works, then," Nico said as he slid into his rocking chair.

"Join hands," Clovis said before yawning.

I took Nico's hand as Nico took Asclepius's. On the other side of my godly half-brother, Clovis took Asclepius's other hand.

"Relax," Clovis intoned, immediately falling asleep.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to; I felt too keyed up. And my prickles were responding to this. But Clovis was a son of Hypnos after all. Before I knew it, my eyelids were drooping and my head lolling.

When I opened my eyes again, I was nearly blinded by sunlight, in the same place I'd seen when I'd touched Asclepius's hand at the base. Now that I was less disoriented before, having expected something like this, I realized we were in Greece. The people that bustled around me were speaking Greek. Modern Greek, of course, so I didn't understand it all that well, but I could tell it was Greek.

Nico was beside me, also scanning the crowd.

I looked around realizing we seemed to be missing someone.

"Where's Clovis?" I asked.

"He's acting as an amplifier and mediator," Nico explained. "He can see and hear everything. He's just isn't appearing in physical form right now."

"What do you mean by mediator?" I asked.

"Remember how you said these people seemed hostile toward you?" Nico asked, gesturing to the pedestrians that passed us. I nodded. "They were. Your half-brother was making them like that."

"What?" I asked.

"Clovis will help keep them at bay," Nico continued. "I don't know how much he can, or how long he can last, seeing as he's going up against a god, but he'll do his best. That also means we're on a time-crunch once we find A—er, him."

"Right." I began scanning the crowd. We stepped in time with each other, on the lookout. "So, this is a dream of sorts?"

"Mm, of sorts." Nico paused. "I don't have time to explain." He grabbed my hand and I jumped, tensing. The ghost of prickles burst, but they were incredibly easy to ignore in this dream realm. For now, anyway.

Nico gestured over his shoulder with his head and I subtly cast my gaze toward that direction. Sure enough, Asclepius was there, sitting at an outdoor café table. He was reading the newspaper, so hadn't noticed us.

I thought this strange. He seemed…fine in this weird dream reality. In fact, it almost looked like he was even enjoying himself. Was this the reason he wouldn't wake up? That still left the question of how the emperors even enchanted him in the first place. Sure, they were immortal, but they weren't as powerful as the gods. At least, I didn't think they were. Maybe some gods, minor gods, but I didn't consider Asclepius to be a minor god.

"How should we approach him?" I asked quietly.

"Slowly," Nico said. "And probably approach from opposite sides. Try to box him in."

I nodded. It was a little clumsy—after all we were talking about a god like he was a wild animal—but this was new territory for both of us, I think. At least, I'd never encountered a situation like this. And I'd been through a veritable number of odd situations.

"I'll go right, you go left?" I asked.

Nico nodded and let go of my hand. We began carefully weaving our way through the crowd, making a wide circle as we approached him, while also trying to look natural.

Unfortunately, as he was turning a page in his newspaper, he happened to glance up and noticed me. He froze. I looked at Nico and nodded. We both converged as fast as we could, but I was suddenly fighting against the pedestrians once again. A glance over at Nico told me he was having the same trouble.

Asclepius stood, throwing the newspaper down and taking off down the street, away from us.

"Wait!" I called, shoving my way past the people. I got to the table just as Nico did. "I thought you said Clovis would hold them back."

"He is," Nico said, glancing back. "We need to go."

I looked behind us as well to see all the pedestrians had stopped and were staring at us. That gave my fight-or-flight reflexes a kick. My pin-pricks burst again, stronger this time.

"He went that way," I pointed down the street.

We both took off. I glanced back to see if the people would follow. They didn't, but I didn't know if that Clovis or if they couldn't leave where they currently were. And if they were only being held back by Clovis, how long would that last?

I faced forward as we approached a crossroads. We slowed to a stop, looking down the streets.

"There!" I gasped, pointing to my left as I saw a figure duck into an alley several yards down the street. Unfortunately, there were more of those hostile dream people on this street. Despite Clovis's best efforts, they fought us. Perhaps they didn't fight quite as hard as they would've without Clovis's influence, but it was still difficult. And we were, once again, stuck catching the flutter of Asclepius's lab coat as he ducked behind another wall, through a door, down another street.

When we came to a dead-end, Nico and I groaned.

"Guys," someone hissed, making me jump and reach for weapons that weren't there. I looked to the end to see Clovis. "I can't keep this up much longer. He really doesn't want to be found."

"Why is he fighting so hard?" I asked. "This doesn't make sense! None of this adds up. Why would he run? What is here that makes him want to stay? What did the emperors do to him?"

"We need a new game plan," Nico said.

"Maybe we could ambush him," I mumbled. "Try to get ahead of him; go where he's going to go."

"Where would that be, though?" Clovis asked.

I looked at Nico. "Didn't Leo, Piper, and Jason go to see him in Greece?" I asked. "That's how Leo survived—he got the physician's cure from him."

"Do you think he would?" Nico asked skeptically. "That's where he was imprisoned, wasn't it?"

"It's a safe place he knows," I said. "I think he would." I paused, realization dawning on me. "I think I understand now." I held out my hand for Nico. "Let's go."

---

We stood in a large chamber that reminded me of the stadium the Colossus had been kept in. The tiles were polished and white, despite the torches and braziers that burned around the room. The firelight reflected off the tiles, making it seem like there was sunlight streaming through some unseen windows. It was nearly blinding. And surprisingly cozy.

There were rows of long, stone benches that filled the room, making me think more of churches than Ancient Greek chambers.

At the end of the room stood a ten-foot-tall statue, of white alabaster, of a young woman in a white robe. She had a serene smile on her face, and in one hand she raised a cup. A golden serpent coiled around her raised arm, its head poised over the brim of the cup.

"This is the sleeping area," Nico murmured. "In ancient times, patients seeking Asclepius's help stayed here overnight. He would send them a dream, telling them what cure to ask for."

"And the woman?" I asked.

"My daughter," another voice came from the other side of the room. Nico and I both turned (Clovis had done his omniscient overseer trick again) to see Asclepius step into the chamber from steps that led upward into the gloom. "Hygeia," he finished, stopping at the bottom of the stairs. "Why are you here? What do you want?"

"We just wanted to talk," I said, thinking about what Nico had said before we'd come.

Asclepius gave us a weary look. "The last time I had a 'talk' with some demigods, they tricked me into giving them the physicians cure. I'm surprised my grandfather didn't throw me into Tartarus for that."

It took me a moment to remember that his grandfather was Zeus. It seemed like such a weird way to refer to him until I remembered names had power.

"Please, ten minutes. And then we'll leave," I said.

Nico looked at me curiously but followed my lead.

Asclepius appraised me for a long moment. An expression flashed across his face but it was so quick I wasn't able to tell what it was. It made me uneasy though. Jason had told me when they met, he could surmise someone's health (past and future health, even) with just one look. Though, I guess it didn't come as too much of a surprise, because Nico did say that my death aura was getting stronger by the day. Still…

"Very well," Asclepius sighed. He started forward, going past Nico and I toward the statue, but he veered right and I realized something else had appeared on the back wall: a closed metal door and two electronic signboards. They must've been written in Ancient Greek because I had no trouble reading them:

THE DOCTOR IS:
INCARCERATED

NOW SERVING NUMBER: 0000000

Asclepius pushed the metal door open. It groaned, echoing throughout the chamber. He stood back, gesturing inside.

"Please, come in," he said.

Nico and I exchanged a glance before going to the door. It opened up to a hallway. And at the end of the hallway stood a walnut door with a bronze plaque:

Ἀσκληπιός

Which was followed by all the titles he held, most notably titles within the medical sphere.

Nico and I stopped at the door. Asclepius quietly slipped past us and opened it, going inside but leaving it open for us to follow.

Inside looked more like an office for a tenured professor than a doctor. Asclepius took a seat at a big maple desk that was backed up to a wall that was just a giant bookshelf, stuffed with medical books from across the ages. There were two leather chairs on the other side of the desk. Behind those chairs, taking up the other half of the space was a coffee table and a sofa. And in one small corner, a little play area for kids.

Across the desk was a polished black staff, with a live green python coiled around it, currently snoozing underneath the lamp in the corner of the maple desk.

"Beautiful," I murmured as Nico and I took a seat across from Asclepius. Rowan had the silhouette of Asclepius's staff on his cards etched in gold. I had never imagined the real thing being so stunning.

Asclepius gently ran the tips of his fingers along the staff. "Thank you." He looked up at us. "What did you want to talk about?"

"They," I began softly, meeting his gaze, "offered you freedom, didn't they?" I paused. "The emperors."

Asclepius blinked rapidly in shock and then looked away. His hands, which were folded, resting on his desk, began fidgeting. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. I'd never seen a god this flustered before. It was, honestly, a little unnerving.

"H-how did you…?" He tried, trailing off and shaking his head.

"It was actually something Nico said," I told him, looking over at Nico. He looked just as surprised at this. "He called this"—I gestured to the room around us—"your prison. The sign outside the door says 'incarcerated.' This was your punishment. For bringing someone back from the dead."

Asclepius stilled. "Th-the lord of the sky had every right to—"

"No, he doesn't," I interrupted, harhsly. "Not anymore. You have more than served your time."

The god of medicine sighed, sinking into his chair, looking as human as you could ever get. Weary. Tired. Beaten down.

"They offered me something I could never truly get back," he said quietly, keeping his eyes on his staff. His eyebrows furrowed fiercely. "I know it was wrong. I know, I just—" He broke off, letting out a frustrated sigh, shaking his head again.

"What did they want in exchange?" Nico asked.

"My ichor," Asclepius answered, finally looking up at us. "They said they could use it in combination with some sorcery—amplify my healing abilities through my ichor and use it to help their warriors."

Well, that explained the baths.

"What if we gave you a better offer," I asked.

Asclepius looked at me skeptically, suspiciously. "I don't believe you could. Ze—He, would only send me back."

"That's why you've remained in this state," Nico surmised. "To avoid attracting attention."

"Yes, I—" He broke off, making a pained expression. "I do not wish to return to this place. Ever again."

"I don't think he will send you back," I said slowly.

"How can you be sure?" Asclepius asked, but I could hear the hope in his voice.

"Haven't you wondered how we were able to reach you?" I answered with my own question. "We got you away from the emperors, broke the magic barrier that they had on you. You're at Camp Half-Blood right now. If Z—he was going to send you back, don't you think he would've done it already?"

"That kind of makes sense," Nico said. "But Asclepius hasn't woken up. We can't know for sure if that he won't be sent back if he wakes."

"Big man in the sky struck me with one of his bolts; I am sure he was intending to kill me, but I'm still alive and he hasn't done anything about it," I argued. "That must mean something."

"Perhaps for you," Asclepius said. "But not necessarily for me."

"The gods are hiding on Olympus right now," I told him. "Apollo? Our dad? He's currently a mortal again. The gods are waiting it out. Biding their time. They want to see what will become of him and his fight against Triumvirate."

Asclepius jolted like he'd been struck—ah, perhaps that's a bad analogy to make.

"Dad is mortal again? Why? When did this happen?" he asked, leaning forward. There was a spark in his eyes that I hadn't seen before.

"The lord of the sky blamed Apollo for Gaea's rising—the reason Jason, Piper, and Leo came to visit you," I explained. "He was stripped of his godhood and thrown to earth a few weeks ago. The emperors want the oracles, and Apollo has to stop them. I'm not asking you to join the fight, I…I'm just offering you a chance at true freedom. From this place." I waved my hand. "From your burdens." I held out my right hand, letting more of the fractal burn show. "From your past."

Asclepius looked at my hand for a long time. At first, I thought he might decline; opt to stay in this dream world forever.

Instead, he lifted his own hand and slowly, hesitantly, moved it toward me. A few inches away he paused. Pulled back slightly. But pushed forward again and took my hand.

---

I slowly opened my eyes, blinking as they adjusted to the blazing light from the fireplace. I almost felt like I had taken a really nice, really long afternoon nap. The fire certainly helped my prickles.

I looked to my right to see Nico and Clovis start to stir. Anxiety shot through me, waking me up instantly, when my eyes landed on Asclepius, though. When he didn't start moving. But I exhaled in relief when his hand twitched and he shifted in his rocking chair. (The fireplace could only do so much when my prickles reacted to my emotions.)

Nico squeezed my hand, which was still in his, bringing my attention to him. He smiled and mouthed, "Good job."

I squeezed his hand back and mouthed, "Thank you." Not in a "thanks for the compliment" way but more in a "thanks for helping" way.

"Did you succeed?" Nic asked from behind us.

I let go of Nico's hand and went to stand, to answer her, but as soon as I had, a wave of vertigo hit me so hard I almost instantaneously threw up. My knees buckled and my vision went dark. I heard someone call my name, but I was gone before I even hit the floor.

My sleep was surprisingly dreamless. Or, at least, I didn't remember my dreams if I had any, which was still unusual, regardless.

When I woke up, I was back in the Apollo cabin, tucked into my bed to the chin. I was warm, but it was good for my prickles. I didn't think I'd felt so comfortable in a long time. And that was kind of a sad thought.

Beside me, to my surprise, sat Asclepius. He was smiling and speaking to the rest of my siblings who were gathered in front of him, sitting crisscross on the floor, like Asclepius was reading a story to them. They were still in their pajamas with bedhead.

How long was I out? What time was it? It looked like they'd been woken and pulled from bed, and decided to stay up.

At the end of my bed was Nico, leaning against the bed post, also listening to whatever Asclepius was regaling them with.

I looked back at Asclepius. He seemed a lot happier, more relaxed now. I was also glad that Zeus hadn't blasted him or sent him back to his prison, either. Though, that did make me wonder what the gods were up to. Triumvirate was trying to dethrone them and they were content to just sit on Mount Olympus? I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised, considering it took Typhon rising to get them to get off their thrones and actually help with the war against Kronos.

Asclepius noticed me, then. "Ah!" He smiled and turned toward me. "You're awake, how are you feeling?" As he asked this, he pressed one of his hands to my forehead, and I was violently thrown into a flashback.

I was lying in bed like I was now, except it was my childhood bedroom. My mom sat on the edge of my bed, holding my hand, stroking the back of it with her thumb. Her expression was tight with worry. Apollo knelt next to the bed, near my head.

I was having trouble breathing from whatever sickness I'd caught, and Apollo pressed his hand gently to my forehead. My breathing became stronger, though I still felt under the weather.

He looked at my mom. "That's all I can do for now," he said. "I don't…well, I can't exactly go around healing people like that."

My mom smiled and sighed. "You've done enough." She reached to caress his face with her free hand. "Thank you."

They both turned to look at me again.

"She should be fine," Apollo said. "Just the common cold."

When I blinked, I was back in the Apollo cabin and Asclepius was removing his hand from my forehead.

"How are you feeling?" he asked again. Had he seen what I'd seen?

It took all I had not to burst into tears in that moment.

Instead, I nodded, swallowing my confusing emotions, and shoving my prickles away. "Fine," I managed.

Asclepius nodded, smiling, but his eyes were tight. I could imagine him seeing what Nico saw whenever he looked at me: my imminent death.

Then I remembered the whole situation and sat up. "My phones! Where's Nic?"

"I've got them," Nico said, showing me. "No one's called. Nic is speaking with Chiron."

"What?"

Nico nodded to Asclepius and I looked over at him in silent question.

"I'm staying at camp for now," he said, softly, like he was unsure. "Until I figure out what to do with this…newfound freedom." The way he held his breath, I could tell it was more than just that. It felt too good to be true, I'm sure. After centuries spend in a prison. He was probably afraid he would be pulled back at any moment.

Still, I couldn't help but smile at his decision to wake up, to try. "I'm glad." Then I looked down at my siblings, who'd been watching our exchange quietly. I looked between Asclepius and Nico. "What did you tell them?"

Kayla huffed. "We're right here, you know?"

"Y'know, I'm a bit offended," Austin said, leaning back on his hands and stretching out his legs. "We can keep a secret. We kept your secret for a year."

I frowned at Nico. "You told them."

Nico shrugged but he smiled, with a mischievous edge to it.

"Why did you feel the need to keep that from us?" Will asked, frowning and crossing his arms. His lower lip jutted out the tiniest fraction.

I sighed, throwing the covers off me and my legs off the side of the bed. "It's easier that way. The less you know, the better. I don't want Triumvirate coming after you. And it's better for the resistance, as well. The more contained our secret is, the easier it will be for us to remain secret." I paused and then glared them in a big sister way. "And, I know you'd just want to help."

"We do!" Cressida said.

"Why shouldn't we be able to help you?" Lyra added.

"Because it's too dangerous," I said, standing. I held out my hand for my phones and Nico handed them over.

"We're demigods," he reminded as he did so.

"It's a little different," I explained, donning my jacket, which had been hanging on the hook on the bed post, and putting my phones into the inner breast pocket. "Triumvirate is unafraid to work with mercenaries—people who can and will use guns on children. I don't want you getting mixed up in that.

"If I need help from the demigod side, I'll keep you in mind," I added. "But for right now, keep training. Stay safe, please. For my sake."

"It goes both ways," Will said.

"I know."

Nic entered the cabin, then. "Everything is squared away." Seeing I was up, she added, "Ready to go?"

I nodded. "Alright, goodbye hugs?" I asked, opening my arms, knowing they wouldn't let me leave if I didn't give them hugs.

Asclepius hugged me last. "The path before you is filled with many challenges," he murmured urgently in my ear. "Be careful. Make your choices wisely."

With those ominous words, he let go and stepped back. Had he inherited some of Apollo's prophetic abilities as well? What did that mean? Why did gods always have to speak in riddles?

Not knowing how to respond, I simply nodded and turned to leave. I would need some pain meds or an elixir. Maybe two.

---

Week 5

"Do you know why we're here?" Huixing asked quietly as we followed the receptionist to the conference room at one of Triumvirate Holdings' buildings.

I shook my head. "No idea." Inside, my stomach was knotting into a tight ball, my prickles steadily growing. Did Hargrave somehow find out I had managed to wake Asclepius up? Was he able to parse it from my brief visit to Camp Half-Blood? Had he somehow taken that little information and made it into enough of something to get the emperors to terminate my contract? To kill Dan and Anya? My pin-pricks burst painfully in response to that.

Trying to keep from hyperventilating, I looked to Ellery. He was usually the one who got the most information, of the three of us.

He frowned. "Nothing."

Not a good sign.

My heart squeezed in my chest painfully and I turned to face front. The edges of my vision were starting to turn black.

"Hm, looks like the teacher's pet is in trouble," Huixing remarked, but her voice sounded echo-y.

Ellery exhaled sharply, also sounding far away. "Don't call me that."

Before either of them could say more, and before I could collapse, we arrived at the conference room. Hargrave was already inside, standing on the other side of the table, facing the door. There were no mercs or Germani with him, which I thought strange, because there usually were. Either because he wanted to appear imposing or because he thought he might need protection against me and my "violent tendencies."

He was smiling, but it was tight and pained. He seemed almost…angry. His hands were in his pockets and his body was relaxed, but the fabric of his pockets strained against his fisted hands.

"Congratulations, my dear," he said as we entered, looking at me. None of us sat down. "You have been summoned, once again, by one of the emperors."

I blinked. "What." The black in my vision cleared like a light switching on.

"Emperor Commodus would love to meet you," Hargrave said, his voice straining to sound like his usual airy, nonchalance. I had a guess he was so angry because of what he told me last week, about his suspicions involving a certain medicine god, but regardless, it was giving me immense satisfaction to watch him be this upset.

Hargrave continued, "So, we're sending you off to Indianapolis. All three of you; after all, three is the ideal number for these things, isn't it?" He paused, swallowing. "Pack your things!"

On second thought, looking at his stressed smile, maybe I preferred it when he wasn't angry and trying to be casual about it.

---

Hargrave did not tell us how long we would be staying. But we were due to leave at the end of the week. Which was in a few days.

I stared down at my suitcase and the clothes I had laid out, wondering what Commodus wanted with me. And why he was allowing Ellery and Huixing to join me. Because the way Hargrave phrased it, the way he looked at me as he was giving us the news, made it feel like Commodus really just wanted to see me.

At the risk of sounding self-centered.

Though, this had been the whole reason I'd been brought into the fold of the resistance. The fact that I could get…close-ish with the emperors. For, before I'd joined, Nero had requested my presence at a small, private get-together.

He had wanted to hear me sing.

Perhaps it was the same with Commodus.

Why wait so long, though. And why now, suddenly? It felt very out of the blue.

The really unfortunate thing was that it gave us very little time to plan. It seemed like dumb luck Ellery and Huixing would be coming along—but it could get us valuable information if we played our cards right. I could distract Commodus and they could sneak off and investigate his living quarters for any important documents or information for future plans.

I would need to drink some elixir before the night was over.

As I continued to think about this and, decidedly, not pack, my bronze phone began to buzz. I picked it up without really thinking.

"Hello?"

"Tori?"

"Jason?" I asked, finally looking up from my empty suitcase. I checked the time. It was currently 2am in California. "What are you doing up?"

Jason chuckled, but it sounded tired. Broken.

"What's wrong?" I asked, turning, automatically reaching for a knife at my belt, even though it wouldn't do me any good right now.

"Can we talk? I—" He broke off. I heard him shift through the speaker of my phone but I couldn't really tell what was going on.

"Jason?" I asked. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I…I'm fine," Jason finally managed. "I'm not physically hurt."

I went out into the living room to sit down. Standing too long sometimes aggravated my prickles. Not to mention, I was now worried because Jason did not sound fine.

"Doesn't sound like it," I said as I took a seat. "You know you can…tell me anything, right?" It felt odd to say, but after talking to him about Piper, I think he had come to feel more comfortable around me. Dare I say, I think he saw me as an older sister of sorts.

Jason paused for a long time. "Have you…heard about what's been going on in southern California lately? With the fires?"

I tensed. The nature spirits and the resistance on the west coast had kept me up to date. "Yes, I have," was all I said, though.

Jason didn't seem surprised but it sounded like he was pretty preoccupied.

"Piper and I went to investigate," he said, his voice turning rough at the mention of Piper. I was kind of surprised, but I suppose I shouldn't have been. Piper had told me herself she still loved Jason. She just didn't want to be with him in that way.

"Are you okay? Piper's unhurt?" I asked slowly, thinking about these two teens running into the labyrinth that was now filled with angry fire.

"…she's fine," Jason said so quiet I almost didn't catch it. "She will be fine." His voice was stronger, resolute. It didn't feel like he was talking to me now, more like he was assuring himself.

I thought of my next question carefully, trying to fit puzzle pieces together that didn't go together but were clearly connected: Apollo falls to earth as a mortal. The emperors become more active in their plans to take over the world. A lost and hidden oracle is found in Camp Half-Blood. Apollo goes off to—Indianapolis! How could I have forgotten! Were they still traveling?

Fuck!

I had to shake these thoughts off (and shove my chronic pain away) and focus on Jason.

Apollo goes to Indianapolis to find another oracle. There are devastating fires and drought in southern California, the part of the country the third emperor oversaw.

"What did you find?" I finally asked. Vague enough that it might get me an honest answer, but pointed enough that I would know immediately if he was trying to skirt around the question.

Jason was quiet for a very long time again, but I waited.

"An oracle," he whispered. "I…I didn't even know there was another." He let out a bitter chuckled. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. It wouldn't really make sense there only be one."

"What did the oracle say?" I asked gently, trying to summon the kind voice Rowan used when they prompted me with tough questions.

Jason paused again. "She said…" He let out a slow breath, resolute. Like he was making a decision. "She said that we would face the third emperor with Apollo. And in doing so, one of us was going to die. And I decided that it would be me."

I stiffened when I heard a noise in the chair a few feet from the one I currently sat in, and turned to look. For a moment, I saw Luke. His arm was bloodied from where he'd stabbed his Achilles heel, his entire side bloody, ashy and black from the blowback of expelling a titan from his body. His eyes were clear and blue, but his expression was dark.

I blinked and the vision was gone.

"Jason," I began but Jason let out a large exhale.

"Gods, I-I'm sorry," he said, his voice suddenly stronger but fragile, like glass. Like he could break at any moment. "It's late. I shouldn't have called. I shouldn't have dumped that on you. Thank you for indulging me. Goodnight, Tori."

"Wait," I tried. "Jason—"

Before I could any other words in edgewise, Jason hung up. I thought about calling him back but he would probably ignore it.

Instead, I did what I always do after calls on my bronze phone: I wiped the memory. Wiped any trace that I had contact with anyone else.

I set the phone in my lap, glancing at the chair beside me. The vision of Luke was well and truly gone but the imprint of it was left behind my eyes. Thinking about him, talking about him, mentioning him, remembering him, always pained me. I don't think that would be a hurt that would ever go away.

But his expression is what haunted me now.

Chess pieces, I thought, staring at the empty chair. Cannon fodder.

Those were the words he often used when he talked about how the gods used their demigod children. To do their bidding. To fight their battles. To win their wars.

I couldn't help but think this was just another move that would get another pawn sacrificed. A pawn to the gods, maybe. A pawn to the emperors.

But not to me. Jason was not a thing to be used, a lamb to be slaughtered. He was a boy. A person. A teen, just trying to figure out who he was while navigating life post-war, and a difficult breakup.

Did the Fates really have that planned for him? For him to be raised by a legion under his father's shadow, go to war, and then die? Were they really that cruel.

I knew the depths of their cruelty, but that seemed far too unfair.

So, I made my own decision: Jason, nor Piper, was going to die.

---

Week 6

But first, I had to entertain a Roman emperor.

Not only that, but I needed to figure out what exactly Jason found out. What he knew, and how much time I had to concoct a plan to save him and Piper.

A few nights later, Ellery, Huixing, and I were on a private jet that would take us to Indianapolis. I sat stiff as a board the whole flight for obvious reasons. (Didn't even move to take pain meds or drink my pain elixir, despite how badly my prickles screamed.) Why Zeus did not strike us out the sky was a mystery to me, but we landed fine. Some mercs were waiting for us, ushering us to an SUV.

We were then driven from the private airport to an underground parking structure (I used the drive there to down several pain elixirs, against my better judgement), which surprised me. Of course, I'm not sure why I was surprised, seeing as Hargrave, per usual, did not tell us anything about Emperor Commodus's place of living while in the Midwest.

The first thing I noticed as we stepped out was the smell. It was disgusting. It smelled like the sewer. Did Commodus seriously live in the sewer system? An immortal Roman emperor living in the sewers of the Midwest? How he did not see that the other two emperors were giving him the short end of the stick was beyond me.

The monsters that greeted us were something I hadn't seen before, which was saying a lot. I'd seen a lot of monsters in Kronos's army.

The monsters before us were shaped like humans, but their heads were missing. Instead, their eyes, nose, and mouth rested on their chest. Otherwise, they were dressed a bit like any other normal human might be; the clothes had just been modified to accommodate their faces.

"Welcome," one of them said with a big, toothy smile. "Emperor Commodus is waiting in his throne room for you. This way, please."

I exchanged wary looks with Ellery and Huixing before we began to follow them. I heard footsteps behind us and looked to see some Germani had joined us. That was more like it. Though, that didn't exactly make me feel any better.

I still had my weapons, at least. Their weight grounded me. It didn't help my anxiety (or my pin-pricks), but it made me feel just a tiny bit more in control. Even if that control was completely fabricated.

The smell permeated the…palace? It was the only word I could really think for it, though it didn't seem fitting. Seeing as we were in the sewer.

Anyway, the sewer smell permeated the palace, even as we winded through hallways and walked down long corridors that weren't near anything flowing. It wasn't as strong in some places than others, though.

At some point, I think my nose went numb, because I stopped smelling it. At least, when it wasn't as strong. How did anyone eat in this place?

Finally, we made it to the throne room.

The monsters with faces on their chests stepped aside, while gesturing to the threshold. I paused a moment, not wanting to go in first. It made me feel uncomfortably exposed, despite the weight of my weapons.

Something about this whole thing just felt off. My alarm bells were going off, but I couldn't pinpoint a source!

Behind me, one of the Germani grunted, "Move." while giving me a shove, so I swallowed hard and stepped into the throne room. Ellery and Huixing followed, the Germani taking up the rear.

It was large for a structure underground, but so were many of the room we'd passed by. I wondered how they'd even constructed all these building underground without anyone noticing.

Well, I guess it was more likely they either put people in those positions or paid people, given their company's vast wealth and reach.

Commodus sat on a white granite throne, adeptly spinning a six-foot-long poleaxe with two fingers. He was deeply tanned with a sculpted face, curly brown hair, a curly brown beard, and blue eyes. He was dressed in a deep purple toga, with a dark blue cloak that was fastened at his right shoulder with a brooch decorated with precious gems that looked to be rubies and emeralds. I had an odd feeling that I was underdressed, looking at him.

His bored expression brightened when he spotted us and he sat up straighter in his throne, spinning his poleax a few more times before setting it on the ground. The sound it made against the floor set my teeth on edge and made my prickles burst.

"Welcome!" he bellowed with a laugh, his eyes fixated on me. I wanted to step back but the Germani were crowding us. I couldn't move anywhere but forward. And I did not want to move any closer than I was, which actually wasn't that close.

Now that we were properly inside the room, I also noticed that there were monsters in cages behind his throne, in the shadows at the back of the room. I noticed winged snake-like creatures, large bull- or bison-like creatures with huge horns, and one other thing that looked like, a yak, perhaps? But I had never seen any of these kinds of monsters before, so I couldn't tell you what they were named.

Commodus stood, bringing my attention back to him. Though, as he stood, behind me, the Germani moved. Two of them grabbed Ellery and Huixing, shoving them over to the side of the room. Huixing began to object but Ellery shot her a look. I stayed where I was. I had a feeling if I'd tried to go with them, the last Germanus standing behind me would've stopped me.

Commodus grinned.

I felt like a deer in headlights: frozen and unable to move as I watched the bright lights of a car speed toward me.

"A pleasure to meet you," Commodus said, completely ignoring Ellery and Huixing. "Victoria."

I thought maybe I should say something in response, but the look he was giving me was setting off every single alarm bell in my mind. My chronic pain rose in response.

"What?" he asked, when I hadn't responded. His smile turned sharp, like a knife glinting in the sun. "Nothing to say to your father's ex?"

Commodus stepped toward me and I instinctively stepped back.

"Oh, come now," he boomed, chuckling. "Don't be that way." He set aside his poleax and began walking toward me. I continued to back away. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Ellery and Huixing shift, but they wouldn't be able to do anything. Not if they 1) wanted to keep their covers and 2) wanted to avoid pissing off one of the emperors.

"I've heard so many good things," Commodus continued with that same, predatory smile. "I am greatly looking forward to hearing you sing, my dear, Seirína."

My back hit a wall and I couldn't help the small squeak that escaped from my lips. Commodus's grin grew slightly wider as he stepped closer to me. I pressed myself back against the wall, barely breathing, but he was so close. I could feel the heat coming off him. Feel his breath on my face.

My heart hammered against my chest. My prickles roared. I could barely hear anything else over the ringing in my ears.

What was he doing? I needed him to step back. I couldn't breathe!

Commodus moved, reaching a hand up toward my face. I flinched, but he ignored it, pulling my braid over my shoulder.

"Has anyone ever told you how much you look like your father?" he asked, his voice now low.

I stared up at him, perplexed and terrified. "Quite the opposite, actually," I somehow managed to say in a steady voice. Despite how much my hands were shaking.

His hand, still at my braid, moved further up, to cup my cheek.

I reacted like I usually did.

I shoved his hand away from my face and hissed, "Don't touch me."

But that was exactly what he'd been waiting for. He grabbed my wrist and slammed it against the wall, above my head, pinning it there. When I went to slap him, he grabbed that wrist, and pinned it against the wall above my head, as well.

I bit down on the scream that bubbled up from my chest. Any anger or indignation I felt a moment ago evaporated into terror. My pin-pricks began rising steadily, threatening to overwhelm all my other senses. Visions of being cuffed to a bed, of being strangled by vines flashed before my eyes.

I struggled uselessly against his hands, which felt like iron manacles, as my mind was consumed with panic.

How fucking strong was he?

Underneath the ringing in my ears and my prickles, I could hear Ellery and Huixing shouting, but I imagined the Germani were holding them back.

I tried to glare up at Commodus, who simply smirked down at me.

"Let go of me," I growled, though my voice shook.

His smile sharpened and suddenly his mouth was on mine. I let out a yelp but it was muffled by his oppressive lips. I thrashed against him but with his hands holding my wrists and his body so close to mine, there was little else I could do. He was too strong!

I couldn't breathe. My head swam. My stomach tightened. My chronic pain was on the verge of making me pass out.

His lips pried mine open and I felt a burst of adrenaline surge through me. I bit down as hard as I could on his lip.

With a shout, I shoved him away from me. (Though, I knew, he had only let me do so.)

Still, Commodus stepped back, golden ichor dribbling down his chin, into his beard. I could taste it in my mouth, the way it burned and stung my tongue and lips wherever it touched.

Commodus had a strange, wild smile, his blue eyes blazing. Not taking his eyes off me, he reached up to wipe his lip of ichor.

I glared back at him, chest heaving. I don't know when I'd done it, but I was now holding a throwing knife in one of my hands.

Commodus smiled at me for a moment longer before waving his hand. "Take them to where they'll be staying."

With that, he turned and began walking leisurely back to his throne. I thought about throwing a knife at the back of his head but I felt someone's hand wrap around my arm. I jerked away and spun to face the culprit.

"Don't touch me!" I shouted, raising my throwing knife. "Don't fucking touch me!"

The Germanus, unfazed, looked to Commodus. I didn't turn, glaring at the Roman soldier.

A brief moment passed before the Gemanus looked back at me. I tensed, ready to aim for the eyes if he took one more step toward me.

Instead, he gestured to the door.

"This way," he grunted.

Not really having any other choice, I stepped toward the exit. Besides, I wanted out of this room. Away from Commodus.

I gripped my knife in my hand, though. When I glanced back, Ellery and Huixing were being herded by the Germani that guarded them, toward me, as well.

That was some small comfort. Nothing would currently settle my racing heart, my growing prickles, or my panicked brain, but when I looked at them, I knew they were safe, at least.

I couldn't tell you the specifics of what the room looked like, other than it was small, and it kind of looked like a hotel room. There was one big bed in the middle, and two smaller, twin beds on either side of the big bed.

The Germani shoved us in, then slammed the door.

I went to the edge of the bed and sat down, my knees buckling. I dropped my knife as I looked at my wrists, which were now blushing purple with new bruises. My hands were trembling.

"Tori?" Huixing asked quietly, gently.

My breathing was harsh, coming out harsher the longer I stared at my wrists.

"May I…" Huixing pointed to the spot next to me. I nodded as tears began streaming down my face.

She moved slowly, carefully perching on the edge of the bed. I immediately leaned into her. She stiffened at first, but then eased her arm around my shoulders, rubbing my shoulder in soothing circles. She was whispering comforting things but her exact words were lost on me.

Ellery, also moving slow, sat on my other side. He rested his hand on my knee, making sure I was okay with it, before giving it a very gentle squeeze and then rubbing my knee with his thumb.

I sobbed into Huixing's shoulder, folding my arms to my chest, and let myself break down for a moment.

—

i have it in me so much nearer home / to scare myself with my own desert places.

—

End Interlude

---

"This won't be very long." "I don't think I'll be able to fill this up too much, so I'll make it one chapter."

*27 pages in MS Word later, and deciding to cut out another scene and put it into Act II instead because I just want to finish this chapter* "oops."

Well. Sorry this took so long. I was having trouble brainstorming a lot of what I wanted to put in here. The thing that actually got me going was, I wanted to get working on my costume for Halloween lmao

But also the muse was, blessedly, willing to take that as motivation to finish this chapter. I actually had a decent outline/idea of what I wanted for each week—actually writing down the specific details is where I struggled. I usually take time to visualize, like a movie, scenes I want to write. But I was on a time crunch this week, so I couldn't really take the proper time to do so like I usually would. Good for everyone involved though! I progress the story and you guys get another chapter! A long boi, too!

Act II: The Dark Prophcy is next! Got some fun, juicy stuff coming up. Excited to write and share with y'all!

Before I sign off, I would also like to note that this will be the ONLY instance of any kind of sexual assault. This is as far as I'm comfortable going, so if you're worried about that, worry no longer. Because I don't intend to show anything else, or anything further than that.

Thank you all so, so much for sticking with me (to the end of the line).

As always, hope you enjoyed! Comments are very much appreciated.

Thank you for reading,
TheBrightestNight